Effective safety netting in acute childhood illness: an important contribution to avoiding preventable deaths

Children’s use of urgent care services continues to increase. If families are to access the right services at the right time they need access to information to inform their decision making. Providing a safety net of information has the potential to reduce morbidity and avoidable mortality (Jones et al 2013) and has been shown to reduce re-consultation safely (Maguire et al 2011). Aim: Our research programme aims to provide parents with information they can use to help them determine when to seek help for an acutely ill child. Method: Our programme includes: ASK SARA, a systematic review of existing interventions; ASK PIP, qualitative exploration of safety netting information used by parents and professionals; ASK SID, development of the content and delivery modes for the intervention; ASK ViC, video capture of children with acute illness; and ASK Petra, safety netting tool development using consensus methodology. Results: The ASK SNIFF programme findings demonstrate the need for professionally endorsed and co-produced safety netting resources focussing on symptoms of acute childhood illness. We now have consensus on the scripted content for a safety netting tool supported by video materials to enable parents to see symptoms for real. Conclusion: Safety netting tools are a valuable aid to general practice enabling GPs to show parents what to look out for when their child is sick so that they know when to (re)consult. Recent reports of failure to recognise and appropriately safety net children with sepsis highlights the importance of such tools.